Let's Be Ishmaels

Back in the days of whaling, a whaling crew would follow a captain’s orders even if it ended up being to their detriment, as in the story of Moby Dick. The story of Captain Ahab chasing the white whale to the point of his and his crew’s destruction is well-known. Only Ishmael, an insignificant crew member, survived to tell the tale. Perhaps it was dumb luck that Ishmael survived the encounter with Moby Dick, but his telling of the tale is amazing because of all of the curation of research he does after his survival, and all of the mental notes he makes on crew members. Ishmael did not have a one-track mind, unlike Captain Ahab. And just like Ishmael, we need to be willing to look at all angles of literary study and abandon the angles that do not work (even if they used to be the best angles). The angle that is most important to look at right now is the digital and how it can enhance the study of literature today.

One way that the study of literature can be enhanced is by writing often and publishing quickly. Some might say that Herman Melville could have used a good editor when he was drafting Moby Dick. But the book has held its form, and because of the vast amounts of information, and seemingly unnecessary details drawn out in it, many different understandings can be drawn from it. Melville researched, curated, wrote, and published the book, and the book did not receive good feedback at first, just as the digital did not. But in time, the benefits of Moby Dick were seen and the benefits of the digital have been seen as well.

One of my classmates, Shelly Russon, recently wrote a post about how she did not want anything to do with the digital when she came home before her mission, and before that only used it to watch others, but never create anything herself. Now, because of the Digital Culture class, Shelly has learned how to filter and use the digital to help her in her literary studies, and other studies.

Learning how to filter through the digital is a critical tool as it helps us to find information quickly and put out information quickly. Not every idea that is put out there is great initially, but in time as feedback is given, and ideas are better developed, thoughts, papers, projects are launched that really benefit society. The digital allows things to be launched immediately too. Traditional modes of launch generally center on isolation, limited audience, and delayed publication.

People are so plugged in to the internet these days, why would we continue to use traditional modes as our sole means of studying literature? We must stop being Captain Ahab’s bent on one way of doing things and one end goal in mind (getting that essay written, getting that book finally accepted for publication) and start looking at the other opportunities for good around us. We must be Ishmaels and not be afraid to embark on a new voyage and then not be afraid to share our story afterward (even if it takes awhile for people to become interested in it).